The Abbé is named Grand Croix of the Order of the Legion of Honour

“He who lived among the poorest of the poor, the insurgent who, all his life, refused misery and injustice and who said to us, yesterday and today, that we need to fight in order for every man to obtain what is his right: a roof, the means to eat and live decently, this man here, I know, is not looking neither for admiration nor for honours.

Today, dear Abbé Pierre, what I want to express, in the name of France unanimously, as you already know which is not common, is the respect, the attachment, the friendship that the French bear towards you. This homage given by France to a one of a kind man, awards all your efforts in the defence of the rights of the human person and the promotion of his dignity.”